Parx Casino Approved For Sports Betting, Turf Club In Pennsylvania
Follow CBSPHILLY Facebook | Twitter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — Pennsylvania is closer to joining New Jersey and Delaware in the sports betting business.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved sports betting for both the Parx Casino in Bensalem and its South Philadelphia Turf Club Wednesday.
SugarHouse Casino Applies For Sports Betting License In Pennsylvania
These are the first approvals in the state. However, the board must still approve the oddsmakers that will work with Parx.
The U.S. Supreme Court in May cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting. Since then, sports books have opened in Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
Those states joined the grandfathered Nevada where sports betting had been legal for decades.
It's not clear how much Pennsylvania can expect from its 34 percent state tax on sports betting. Local governments collect another 2 percent tax.
Mississippi's 8 percent state tax amounted to $52,000 in August on the $645,000 lost by gamblers on $7.7 million in bets. In 2 1/2 months of sports betting in New Jersey, the state's 8.5 percent tax netted $1.1 million from the $16.5 million lost by gamblers on $153 million in bets.
Hundreds Stranded After Danish Airline Primera Air Abruptly Shuts Down
Pennsylvania is already set to become the fourth state to allow online casino gambling, after awarding licenses to seven casinos in recent weeks.
Pennsylvania's casinos already rake in more gross revenues than any other state's casinos except Nevada's, American Gaming Association figures show, while Pennsylvania is the No. 1 state in tax revenue from the casino industry, at $1.4 billion in the 2016-17 fiscal year.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
